Ben Gold wrote:

Right, but my question was does anyone have a technique to keeping wood
dry?

Like say I made a wood table for my patio. Instead of dealing with
pressure-treated wood and solutions like that, I was thinking of having
some sort of rubber/plastic footings (say 1" high) to keep the wood off
the concrete.

My question is what do people do when the build wood that is going to
sit on concrete to remedy the problem? Any specific materials or
techniques?

Stop. You're focussing on the wrong problem. FORGET THE CONCRETE.
CONCRETE IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM. Your problem is keeping the wood dry.

Are these stairs going to be in a stairwell with walls and a roof and siding
and a door and so on like any other part of the house? If so, then you
build them just like any other part of the house--examine the house to see
how it was done or obtain a book on residential construction. Generally
speaking for that kind of construction the codes require a footing or
foundation that extends 3 feet or so above the soil and a decay-resistant
sill plate on top of that, with the outside steps either concrete or
decay-resistant. My house was built before pressure-treated sills were
required and it's been here a long time without any problems related to the
sills and concrete. A friend's house has similar construction only the
foundation is mortared stone rather than poured concrete--it has been there
longer than the United States and is quite sound. And they didn't even
_have_ treated lumber then.

If the stairs are going to be outdoors without a roof then your problem is
not concrete, your problem is that they are going to be outdoors. You need
to build them accordingly. That means decay resistant lumber. Forget the
concrete--they're going to get wet top to bottom and have plenty of nooks
and crannies which are going to hold water long after the rain stops. If
you don't do that then one day you are going to put your foot through a
step. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just when.

To take your example of a wood table for your patio, what people do is use
treated wood, decay resistant wood, or toss it when it rots.

I don't know where you get the idea that using pressure treated or decay
resistant wood requires any kind of special "dealing". You buy it, you
mark it, you saw it, you assemble it, you finish it. Decay resistant
doesn't change any of that.

If you're looking to do this on the cheap, then don't do it. If you've
never done this sort of thing before and your budget is so tight that decay
resistant wood is going to break the bank, then trust me, you're going to
run out money halfway through.





In article . com,
"BobK207" wrote:

Untreated wood should be a minimum of 6" from soil & 1" from concrete
to avoid rot & termite problems.

Wood in contact w/ concrete should be treated or decay resistant
species.
The key to making wood last is to keep it dry.

Please don't anyone quote the code to me;

the code is a minimum standard, a compromise at best, like using a
brain surgeon who got all C's.

cheers
Bob

cheers
Bob

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)